“Negotiating Brexit is not like selling a second hand car with a dodgy secret under its bonnet…”

Most comments on Brexit (and Trump for that matter) are beside the point until Mrs May gets to the end of her internal negotiations with her party and President Trump takes up the reigns of power. What surrogates (new US media word for shills) for him say or not is as yet beside the point.

First, this from Flip Chart Rick…

…the time to put up a fight on the terms of Brexit is now. If MPs want to shape the terms of Britain’s exit from the EU, they need to do so before Article 50 is triggered.

Of course, it might be that Article 50 isn’t irrevocable after all. The Lisbon Treaty is deliberately vague. But this raises another question. If we understand so little about what Article 50 does, should MPs be voting for it at all? Shouldn’t they get legal clarification on what Article 50 actually does before they vote for it?

MPs have a duty to act in the national interest as well as considering what they believe their constituents’ wishes to be. That’s what representative democracy is about. Before triggering Article 50, they need to know three things:

1. Whether or not Article 50 is revocable;
2. That there is a fallback deal in place should the negotiations extend beyond 2 years;
3. What the government’s starting position will be.

For MPs to vote for Article 50 without establishing these facts would be utterly reckless and a dereliction of duty. It would set the country on a highly uncertain and potentially dangerous course. History will judge them harshly if they do.

And this from the leader in the Economist last week…

Mick Fealty

Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty